A Deadly Kind Of Beauty
by Kilgharrah1
Summary: A new mission for the team and a new girl at St Hearts, who's story has more to it than first appears, revealing a darker side to MI9, which will divide the team and put them all in danger.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello! Just a quick note before you dive in: this story does deal with some more serious themes, including death, so this is just a warning in case that's not for you right now. This story isn't set at any particular time in the series but neither Zoe nor Keri appear in it so I guess it fits somewhere between season 6 and 7. I hope you enjoy it and please review!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own M.I. High or any of the characters.**

* * *

 **Prologue**

 _"Quick!"_

 _The doors were closing, the corridor sealing itself with a huge barrier of six inch thick solid steel slowly lowering while warning sirens screeched and beacons flashed an angry red. She was in the lead and ducked under the door, stopping further down the corridor once she was out of the way. She turned breathless to see where the others were. They were not right behind her. She could see them still running on the other side of the door. How? How had they been left behind?_

 _She shouted their names, as though that would hurry them up._

 _"Come on!" she almost begged. The barrier was still lowering. A metre left. She could only see their legs way back beyond the door, still a few metres away from their goal. They weren't going to make it. She ran back towards the door. Half a metre remaining. She cast about, looking for something to hold back the barrier, to give them a chance. The corridor was empty. There was nothing. She tried bracing it with her own strength but the door didn't slow its descent. Just a couple of feet were left, there was still room to roll under._

 _"COME ON!" She screamed, falling to her knees as if in prayer. The door slammed shut with a finality that left her staring in horror at the door. "No…" She whispered, wishing it untrue. "No!" She shouted hitting her fists against the unforgiving metal. She shouted their names. But the door was sound proof. She couldn't hear them. They couldn't hear her. They would never hear her. Never again._

* * *

It was early in the morning at the start of a cold, misty day. Sunlight was barely managing to break through the low cloud that lingered over the muddy fields and country lanes, creating a pink tinge to the air. Three army vehicles trundled along the grey roads: two trucks sandwiching a black van, with two soldiers in each vehicle. The road was barely big enough to allow two normal sized cars to pass side-by-side let alone the wide khaki-coloured vehicles, but it was still early and few cars would be on the road. Eventually the convoy halted. The soldiers in the last vehicle craned their necks out the windows, trying to see the reason for the unexpected stop. A white van was parked across the road, completely blocking the way ahead. A soldier from the first truck jumped out of the vehicle and strode over to the passenger's door. She tapped sharply on the window.

"Hey, man, you need to move out the road. You're blocking the way," she called out. She could see a figure in the driver's seat but they didn't respond. Were they asleep? Or had they broken down, or even crashed? Concerned but also slightly wary, the soldier moved round the front of the van to the driver's side, and tapped again on the window. "Hello?" Without warning she felt something hit her in the back of her head, hard. She fell to the ground, unconscious.

Back in the first truck, the soldier's comrade eyes narrowed. What was taking her so long? There was a buzz of static on the radio and a voice from one of the other vehicles asked, "What's the issue out there?"

Reaching for the radio, he picked up and spoke briefly. "Not sure. I'm having a look."

He opened his door and stuck his head out. He called out his partner's name. There was no reply. Reaching for his weapon, he swung himself out of the truck and glanced around. Everything was too quiet. He couldn't hear anything from his comrade, and nothing from the white van. He shut the truck door, and as he did so he caught a glance in the wing mirror. He ducked just in time to avoid the fist swinging his way. Spinning round, he grabbed the arm of his assailant and kicked their legs from under them. Winded they lay on the floor. The soldier raised his gun and pointed it down at the attacker.

"Who are you?" he shouted.

Distracted by the first attacker, he didn't notice the second figure come from behind the truck until they were a foot away. He turned the gun on them but the first assailant used this interruption to kick his feet from beneath him, and he fell backwards, hitting his head on the truck door. Dazed he tried to regain his balance. He could shouts in the background and realised the other vehicles were also under attack. He knew he needed to call for back up. He reached through the open window, scrabbling to reach for the radio. He didn't make it. Using the soldiers own weapon against him, the second masked attacker knocked him out with the butt of the gun. He sprawled across the seat, unconscious.

It had taken barely five minutes for all the soldiers to be taken out. Whilst the other masked figures tied the immobile soldiers up in case any woke up, one of the attackers turned to the black van, pulling a small device from a pocket and attaching it to the lock on the back doors. They all moved out of the way as a light on the device flashed a few times before there was a small explosion and the doors swung open. The back of the van was empty, but for a white chest sat innocently in middle of the floor.

It was a matter of minutes later that the white van drove off, its cargo now hidden in the back of the van under and unremarkable blanket beside a pile of construction tools. Another van carrying the other masked attackers had already sped off in the opposite direction. Pulling off his gloves, the passenger pulled out a mobile phone. He quickly dialed a number and waited while the call connected. The phone barely rang a single time before it was picked up.

"Well?" came the greeting.

"We've got it," the man replied, glancing over his shoulder at the hidden package, "but it looks like we're going to need the other part, too."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. "Very well." The call cut off.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It was a normal Monday morning and, at St Hearts Academy, business was as usual. Mr. Flatley hummed a casual tune as he made his way to his first lesson. The students were already in the classroom; sitting in chairs or perched on top of the desks chatting and laughing. Dan was slumped in his chair, head in his arms, resting on his school bag. Aneisha came into the room followed by Tom who dumped his bag on the floor causing Dan to raise his head with a start.

"Urgh, I'm so _tired_ " groaned Tom before flopping into a seat at the desk next to him.

"Why?" Aneisha asked, also sitting, "were you up all last night playing _Bladequest_?"

"Actually, it was _Bladequest: Oath of Fire,_ " Tom replied.

"I have no sympathy," Aneisha said, rolling her eyes.

Mr Flatley entered and there was a general bustle as everyone pulled out their chairs and sat down, stowing bags under the desks. The teacher was followed by a girl in pristine looking uniform. She kept her head down, not looking at the class, her brown hair falling into her eyes.

"Students, this is Taya, a new addition to our school. I hope you'll make her feel… welcome," he said, somewhat uncertainly as he took in the blank, uninterested faces staring back at him. The new girl flashed a very small smile at the cheerful man before quickly heading for a spare seat at the back of the classroom.

Mr Flatley turned to the white board and began writing on it. Dan leant across to Tom.

"That girl," he said, "do you recognise her at all?"

Tom glanced at her then shrugged. "I don't think so. Why?" but Mr Flatley had started talking and Dan didn't get the chance to reply.

An hour later, the class was dismissed and students quickly filtered out into the hallway. Dan, Aneisha and Tom were the last to leave but they got caught just as they reached the classroom door.

"Ah, Aneisha," the head-teacher called. "You can show Taya around, can't you?"

Aneisha nodded and smiled at the new girl whose mouth flickered in a brief, shy smile.

"Excellent," Mr Flatley said, "excellent. Well, I'll leave you to it." He slid past them through the door and bumbled off down the corridor.

Aneisha grinned at the girl and introduced herself. "I'm Aneisha and this is Dan and Tom," she said, gesturing to the boys respectively. They nodded at Taya who smiled but still didn't speak. Perhaps she's shy, Dan thought. He couldn't blame her, being new and all that. But he couldn't shake off the feeling of having seen her face somewhere before. He narrowed his eyes, looking at her, trying to place her face, until he got an elbow in the ribs from Tom.

"Class?" Tom reminded him. "We've got P.E. next."

"Right," Dan said, snapping out of his thoughts and stepping out into the corridor. He led the way to the sports hall, only half listening to Aneisha's running commentary of the different classrooms they passed, whilst his mind ran through all the places he could possibly have seen Taya but nothing came to mind. He was just about to ask her when they reached the gym. She stopped at the door.

"Um… I don't have any kit or anything…" Taya finally spoke up quietly.

"Don't worry," Aneisha said. "If we tell the teacher you're new, you'll probably be able to get out of it," she grinned.

* * *

Apparently, Taya had managed to get out of it as she was absent from the P.E. lesson. The class had got changed back into their blue-blazered uniform and been released for break but the new girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Where d'you think she's gone?" Aneisha asked, peering through the crowds of people. "I'm supposed to be showing her around. My auntie will kill me if I lose her on her first day."

"Maybe she just went off with Lady J or one of the other girls," Tom suggested, casually, not looking up from the game he was playing on his phone.

"Yeah, well, never mind that now," Dan said. He held up his pencil-communicator, the end of which was flashing. "We've got somewhere to be."

* * *

It was only five minutes later when the silver lift doors slid open and the three of them stepped into the MI9 underground base. Their normal school clothes had all been changed into the dark combat outfits, perfect for spying or fighting or whatever their abnormal job threw at them.

The three strode out of the lift into the underground spy base to meet Frank and Stella who stood in front of the large screens next to a third person. A mix of confusion and delighted incredulity crossed all three faces as they recognised the newcomer. Taya smiled at the looks of confusion on her new class mates faces.

"Taya?" Aneisha said, incredulously. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"Team," Frank spoke before Taya could. "I'd like to _re-_ introduce you to Taya. She's an MI9 agent. "

"No way!" Aneisha exclaimed, "You mean there are other school spies like us out there?"

"That's why I recognised her," Dan realised, nodding. "I saw the report on your mission in Siberia last year. That was an _awesome_ job, by the way." He grinned appreciatively at Taya.

"Anyway…" Frank continued then stopped and frowned. "When did you see that report?" he asked Dan sharply.

Dan and Tom shared a guilty look.

"Err… must've just come across it…" Tom muttered vaguely.

Frank glared at them but allowed it to slide. "Anyway, Taya is here to pass on some important information that will help on your next mission." He looked at Taya.

She slid a memory stick across the table.

"This has everything you'll need to know about the mission. Frank will run you through it. And I guess I'll be sticking around if there're any questions or anything."

"But… aren't you joining us on the mission?" Dan asked in confusion.

Stella spoke up before Taya could open her mouth.

"No. Taya is here to pass on the information and then so Frank can keep an eye on her."

Taya lowered her eyes. Dan was still puzzled.

"But I've seen you in action. You'd be great on the mission."

Aneisha nodded in agreement. "Besides," she added, "It'll be great to have another girl here."

But Taya shook her head quickly. "No. I can't." She glanced nervously at Stella and Frank. "I – I'd better get back to class."

She hastened back to the lift, not looking at anyone, but Dan noticed the flush red of her cheeks. The lift doors closed on her and the team looked back at their superiors.

"Why can't she join us?" Tom asked.

Frank pursed his lips. "Taya's not actually a spy anymore. She… left MI9 after a mission about six months ago. Actually, it was the mission that was connected to what you need to look into now," he sounded like he was going to continue with their briefing but Aneisha interrupted him. Something in the tone of his voice told Dan that he was holding something back and clearly Aneisha had picked up on it too.

"Frank? What happened on the mission? Why did she leave?"

He sighed heavily, as though reluctant to tell them. He glanced at Stella who nodded slightly, giving him permission to explain.

"They were on a mission to retrieve a certain item that had been stolen. Something went wrong and… well, the rest of her team were killed. She was the only one to make it out alive. After that she stopped working for MI9. That's all you need to know." Frank ended firmly.

Dan, Aneisha and Tom exchanged horrified looks. Poor Taya. What had she gone through?

"So you know," Stella spoke up, "this mission is not to be taken lightly. I want your full attention on it."

Dan took a deep breath but nodded.

Frank turned to the large screens behind him and, pointing at it with a clicker, pulled up a mugshot of a man. He stared, blank face out of the screen.

"Antonio Constantala. He was imprisoned for three years for handling of stolen goods and was released having served his time five years ago. Last year, he came under our radar when we got wind that he was trying to steal a vial of a concentrated sample of the smallpox virus from a medical research facility where it was kept under the highest security. He had a contact on the inside but fortunately Taya's team managed to break into his base – he was using an old SKULL station. They were supposed to retrieve the virus but the mission didn't go to plan and the rest of Taya's team didn't make it out. Fortunately, the virus was later recovered undamaged and still in its secure container. Constantala was arrested and charged and he is currently held at Moorhill prison."

"Wait a second," Aneisha asked, "why would we have a vial of smallpox in the first place? Isn't it, like, really deadly?"

Tom answered, "It's for vaccinations – giving someone a small dose of a less serious version of a virus allows them to build up an immunity to the disease."

Frank nodded. "It's mostly just a precaution, in case of anything happening in the future, and for medical research. But in the wrong hands, it could be a deadly weapon."

Frank turned back to the screen and pulled up another image. This one was black and white and looked as though it had been taken from security footage. It was a woman with light-coloured hair pulled up in a fancy hairstyle and wearing large, designer sunglasses that hid her eyes.

"This is Maria Constantala," Frank said. "She used to be a model and is currently the founder and CEO of a huge cosmetics and perfume company, _Delicious_. She is also Antonio Constantala's sister and although we have no evidence to tie her to the case, we believe she was fully involved in her brother's schemes.  
"Last week, the virus was being transferred to a more secure location but the convoy that was carrying it was attacked and the virus was stolen. Given Constantala's history, we strongly suspect she is behind its disappearance. We need to know if she's got it and if so, where she's keeping it and what she plans to do with it.  
"Aneisha, you're heading to the _Delicious Cosmetics_ offices: see if you can find any evidence that ties her with the theft of the virus. Dan, I want you to talk to her brother, see if he knows anything about his sister's plans."

Nodding, the team left their base.

* * *

"Hi Taya,"

The girl looked up from her exercise book, brushing her hair away from her face. She smiled when she saw who it was and pushed out the chair next to her, making room for Aneisha to sit down.

"Mrs King gave me some extra work to do to catch up and I thought I might as well get a head start on it." She said, gesturing to the notes spread out in front of her.

"Wise," Aneisha agreed, sitting down next to her. "Keeping Mrs King happy is a mission in its own right," she joked. "Believe me, I know."

Taya looked confused.

"She's my auntie," Aneisha admitted.

"Oh…" Taya said, understanding. Then she grimaced.

Aneisha laughed.

Taya looked back at her work. She seemed tense and Aneisha guessed Taya knew why the other girl had come alone to find her, and why Aneisha was probably looked nervous and awkward. Nevertheless, she decided to take the plunge.

"Taya…" she began hesitantly, "Frank told us what happened. I – I know it doesn't help, but I'm so sorry… and, well I'm here if you need me. And that goes for the others too."

Taya was silent. Her hair had fallen forward so Aneisha couldn't see her face but her fingers were gripping her pencil tightly. Eventually Taya looked up at the other girl.

"Thank you," she said, managing to smile. She looked like she wanted to say something else, but just then the bell rang signalling the end of lunch. Startled, Taya swept her books back into her back and jumped to her feet. "Don't want to be late," she muttered and hurried out, leaving Aneisha on her own.

* * *

 **A/N: S** **o I wanted to upload the first couple of chapters together. If you've got this far then I hope that means you're enjoying it! Please leave a review if you can as I would love to hear feedback and comments. I'll try and get the next chapter up soon(ish).**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Aneisha fidgeted in the too-big glasses and nervously straightened her scarf as she eyed-up the imposing building in front of her – _Delicious_ headquarters. Normally she loved dressing up and going undercover; it was amazing how a different wardrobe and a change of attitude could transform you, at least in the eyes of others, into an entirely different person. But the seriousness of this mission kept playing on her mind: all that had happened to Taya the last time these people were involved made her feel sick. She couldn't bear to imagine anything like that happening to their team: for all the issues they'd had along the way and all the close calls, they had always made it through in one piece. To be reminded that things didn't always work out was a frightening glimpse of a possible reality. Aneisha brushed these thoughts aside. Focus on the mission. Act confident. Pouting her lips and tossing her hair, she sauntered up the front door, where a black-jumpered security guard pulled it open for her. She strode over to the reception desk and presented an invitation card to the smiling receptionist.

"Hi, I'm here for the prize-winners open day?" she said confidently.

The receptionist took her card and examined it before handing it back to her.

"Thank you, Miss Bright," he said, "if you'd just like to take a seat with the other prize winners over there, your hostess will be with you shortly."

Aneisha flashed a wide smile at him and went over to join the other prize winners. There were five of them – three girls and two boys – aged between 12 and 16, who had won some competition to design a new fragrance or something. A couple of them had brought along a friend or sibling as a plus-one. The winner she had taken the place of, 15 year old Abigail Bright, had been told the event had been postponed due to a minor illness of their host – Maria Constantala – and that it would be rescheduled at a later date. Aneisha hoped the girl wouldn't be too disappointed that she was missing out on her prize but she was sure MI9 would compensate her in some other way.

She sat down next to a girl in a red shirt to wait for their hostess. The other teenagers seemed to be either shy, bored or stuck up and had no interest in conversation, saving Aneisha the trouble of making up stories about her alias. A couple of minutes later, Maria Constantala swept into the reception area. She wore a long coat which fanned out behind her as she walked. Everything about her came across as impressive. Her blonde hair was scraped back into a tight bun while her make-up naturally accented her high cheekbones and arched eyebrows above bright blue eyes. Aneisha knew she must be well into her forties and yet she must have used every age-prevention product going as she looked no more than thirty.

"So you're our competition winners?" she drawled, shaking the teenagers' hands. "Fantastic! I'd like to welcome you all to the _Delicious_ headquarters. Now if you'd all like to follow me, we'll get the tour underway."

She turned on her high-heel and strode back through the doors she came from, beckoning the group to follow her.

Aneisha lagged behind a little, pretending to tie her shoelace. Checking no one was watching her, she quickly pressed a tiny button on the side of her glasses. They were actually fitted with a tiny camera in the frame and Tom, back at base, could see and hear everything she could.

"I'm in," she told Tom at the other end of the line. "And it's Constantala leading the tour."

"Good," came his voice from an invisible speaker in her ear. "That means her office will be empty. I'll give you a shout when you're nearby and you can sneak off."

Standing up again, Aneisha hurried after the rest of the tour group.

"… and in here, we have our scent room," Maria said as the teenagers gathered around in a large, white-walled lab. "This is where we experiment with different smells and chose the scents for our perfumes," she gestured to the shelves which housed bottles and jars of flowers, spices and fruits. "And you'll be returning here later, as part of your trip, to have a go at making your own personalised fragrance."

Constantala seemed to be genuinely enjoying giving a tour of her facilities. _Maybe she just liked the attention_ , Aneisha mused as she watched a couple of the girls ask excited questions. _That or she's a good actress. I could learn some tips from her to feign interest in one of Flatley's classes._

They left from a door on the opposite side of the room and into a corridor.

Tom's voice spoke in her ear.

"Right, her office is along this corridor," he said. Aneisha hung back, pretending to search her pockets for a tissue as the group followed Constantala down the corridor and into another room.

"Which one?" She whispered to Tom.

"Third on the left."

She hurried along the passage, stopping outside the door. The door was locked and needed a swipe card to enter. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled the security card she had nabbed from the guard at the entrance and swiped it through the slot. The light flashed green and she pushed the door open.

"And we're in," Tom said cheerfully. Aneisha could imagine him sitting back in his chair in front of the computer, munching on biscuits whilst watching her progress on the screen, as though she was part of a computer game.

"Right, what're we looking for?" Aneisha asked as she took in her surroundings. The room was brightly painted with a desk and computer in the centre; shelves and a filing cabinet lined one wall and there was a large window with Venetian blinds opposite the door.

"We want anything that might connect Constantala to the theft of the virus, or anything that might tell us where it is now."

Sitting down in the swivel chair in front of the desk, Aneisha plugged a small device that could have been mistaken for a USB memory drive into the computer, giving Tom remote access to trawl through Constantala's files.

"Let see what you've got then," Tom muttered and began his search.

Meanwhile, Aneisha examined the rest of the room. A diary sat on one side of the desk and she opened it up to the previous week.

"Here, on the 7th, she's got initials pencilled in. Everyone else she's written down as a full name or at least a surname. 'V. M.' - who d'you think that is? There's no one with those initials in her address book either," she said, skimming through the pages.

"Not sure… Could be relevant," Tom murmured, intent on his work. "Hold on, I'm going to bring up her phone records, too."

Aneisha carried on her search, going through the desk draws and flicking through the filing cabinet but there were very few documents in it and most were catalogues from the company and its suppliers.

"Ooh," Tom said in her ear, "looks like she took a call from someone close to where the convoy was stolen – and at a similar time. But it only lasted a couple of seconds."

"Still, could be something," Aneisha conceded.

"There's nothing much here," she sighed. "Are you nearly done? I've got to get back before anyone notices I've gone."

"Yep, just transferring some emails," Tom said.

Aneisha hovered by the computer, waiting to take the device out. She glanced at the photo frame. It looked like a model photo shoot.

"Hey, she used to be a model, right? This picture looks like her."

"I can't say I'd know," Tom muttered. "There, done."

Aneisha yanked the device out of the computer and checked everything in the office was straight.

"Bit odd though, don't you think? I mean, who has a photo of themselves on their desk?"

"Vain, evil master-criminals do," Tom said. "Now wait a second, there's someone passing down the corridor, wait 'til they've gone."

"How can you tell?" Aneisha hissed.

"Infrared setting on the camera," he explained. "Senses body heat. Okay, coast is clear."

Quickly, Aneisha opened the door and slipped back out into the corridor.

Breathing a sigh of relief that she was out, she took a couple of steps before a voice stopped her.

"Oi!"

Horrified, she turned, trying to look innocent. A guard stood frowning at her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Um, I'm with the competition tour?" Aneisha said nervously. "I was trying to find the loo…"

"Oh." The guard replied. "Well it's not down here. Come with me, I'll show you."

"Actually, I'm not feeling well. I think I might go home."

"Right." The guard looked a little apprehensive, as though she was going to throw up on him. "Well, I'll show you out."

Meekly, Aneisha followed him back to the reception area where he showed her out of the building.

* * *

Dan watched the man through the mirrored glass. He was sat at the table slowly drumming his fingers on the wood with a very bored look on his face, as though he could think of a hundred other places he'd rather be than waiting in a white-walled, windowless prison interrogation room for a conversation in which he would have very little to say. He wore grey tracksuit bottoms and a plain white t-shirt. His dark hair matched his eyes and Dan thought back to the picture he'd been shown by Frank. And he couldn't help thinking of Taya. This man was the reason for her friend's deaths and the torment she had obviously gone through. Dan narrowed his eyes. He would get some answers and do what he could to make things better for Taya.

Dan slid a photo across the table.

"This is your sister." He stated. The man sat across from him didn't glance at it. He was keeping his eyes on Dan, unblinkingly. Trying to unnerve him. But Dan was well trained and he didn't let it bother him. He slid another photo across the table.

"This," he said, "is a case containing the smallpox virus that you stole and attempted to sell six months ago."

"Might be." Constantala said after a pause, again not bothering to look.

Dan sighed. "Now, look. I don't really care about you or your feeble plans. But I do have some questions about your sister."

The man didn't say anything so Dan continued.

"We know she played a part in your plans to steal and sell the virus but fortunately for her, there was insufficient evidence to tie her down. However, we believe she was involved with the recent disappearance of the very same virus. So; what can you tell us about her motives for stealing it this time?

The man sat silently.

"Y'know, it would be a whole lot easier to have this conversation if you actually said something," said Dan, raising his eyebrows.

"What makes you think I have anything to say at all?" Antonio said. "Even if I was in the mood for sharing, I've been locked up for six months; I've no idea what my sister's up to.

"So you wouldn't care if she was doing something you didn't agree with?"

Antonio shrugged.

"My sister may be an idiot, but she's still my sister," Constantala glared at him.

Dan raised an eyebrow. "A sister who broke into a military convoy to steal a deadly virus but, despite all her resources, and a clear disregard for the law, hasn't even tried to break you out of prison?" Dan countered.

Constantala's lips thinned.

"She always did hold a grudge," he said with a snort. He leant back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head in a comfortable manner. "I suppose I might be able to remember one or two things about her that might be useful," he said merrily, " _if_ you make it worth my time."

* * *

 **A/N. There will be a bit more action next chapter... promise! Please leave a review!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"So how's the mission going?" Taya asked.

Dan glanced up. It was the next day, and the pair were making their way to school.

"I mean, I'm probably not supposed to ask, it being classified and all," Taya added, with a shrug.

"Well I think you've had enough input on the mission to know, MI9 or not." Dan reasoned. "We've got evidence that Maria Constantala was definitely connected to the theft of the virus," he explained, "but we still can't work out where it is or what she's planning to do with it. And if we arrest her now, there's a chance that the case and the virus could be lost forever. Her brother seemed to think she had bigger plans than just selling it on to the higher bidder, but what could an ex-model want with a vial of a deadly virus?"

Taya contemplated the issue. "Well, what did she do before she was a model? I can't remember exactly – she wasn't our main target, but wasn't it something to do with biochemistry? Or pharmacy? That's how she ended up in the cosmetics industry, isn't it? There might be a motive or connection or something there somewhere?"

Dan looked up, considering this idea. "I hadn't thought about that," he admitted.

Taya chuckled. "Typical. People only remember celebrities for what they're famous for."

Dan shook his head, smiling. "Seriously though, that's not a bad shout."

Taya shrugged in mock modesty. "Where would you be without me?" she asked with a grin and Dan laughed.

He had noticed the more upbeat, jokey side of Taya start to come out, replacing the shyer, more nervous persona they had first seen. This seemed to be more like her natural self, and Dan was glad she felt relaxed enough to show it. It was obvious, too, that Taya enjoyed the challenges and puzzles spy work presented.

"Y'know, you could still join us," Dan suggested. Taya looked at him, brow furrowed. "On the mission. You'd be great on the team."

"Dan," she sighed. "I couldn't even if I wanted to."

"Look, I know you resigned but I think you –"

"Wait… resigned?" Taya interrupted, confused. "They told you I _resigned_?"

It was Dan's turned to look puzzled.

"Yeah, Frank said you resigned after what happened."

"I didn't resign." Taya seemed to be reluctant to explain. The cheerful Taya was retreating once more and when she spoke again, her voice was quieter but with a matter-of-factness that seemed slightly forced. "Stella gave me a dressing down when I came back. Turned out it was my fault the booby trap went off: it was connected to the chest containing the virus that I was trying to open and I set it off. I was responsible for what happened. For… well, anyway." She cleared her throat. "After that, I was sacked."

"What?"

"I was sacked," Taya repeated. She shrugged like it was nothing, but Dan noticed the poorly-veiled emotions on her face. A black sea of guilt, grief and pain churned just below the surface. "All I deserved, I suppose." She looked him in the eye and smiled weakly. "Seriously, you're better off without me on the team."

Dan was silent for a minute, taking all in. He barely heard the last comment. Meanwhile, Taya was distractedly searching her pockets and had glanced back the way they had come.

"But-" Dan started but Taya had turned around.

"I dropped my communicator. Hold on a tick."

Without waiting for him, she turned and hurried back down the road.

Dan stared after her, processing what she had said. It didn't make any sense. Why hadn't Stella or Frank told them? How could they have sacked her – surely it hadn't been her fault, and even if it had been…

The sound of screeching tyres as a heavy vehicle sped round the corner and braked quickly made him turn round. An unmarked white van had pulled up further up the road, the doors flung open and four or five figures leapt out. Taya jumped in surprise, dropping the pencil communicator she had just picked up. The figures went for her and she hit out at them. Dan was already sprinting towards them. He saw one of them pull something out from inside their jacket and clasp it over Taya's mouth. Her struggling became weaker and the attackers dragged her towards the van.

"Hey!" Dan called out, putting on a burst of speed.

The attackers looked round but instead of stopping, they sped up, manhandling Taya into the back of the van and jumping in after her. As soon as the doors had slammed shut, the driver slammed their foot on the accelerator and the van sped off. Dan had still not caught up but he gave chase, putting on a burst of speed himself. The van cleared the end of the street and turned onto the dual carriage way beyond, swerving in and out of cars to the sound of angry horn blares. By the time Dan had reached the corner, the van was already speeding its way out of sight. He kicked the ground in frustration.

Dejectedly, he made his way back to the spot where the van had been, casting about for anything the attackers might have dropped. But there was nothing. All that was left was Taya's pencil communicator, broken under someone's boot, lying where it had fallen.

* * *

The others had already gathered in the base by the time Dan got there. They looked up as the lift doors opened to smile a greeting.

"Ah, Dan, good," Frank said as Dan strode into the room. "Have you seen Taya this morning?"

But nobody got any further as they registered the fury on Dan's face. He strode towards the circular table and slammed the broken pencil communicator on the surface.

"She's gone," he said, managing barely not to shout. "They took her."

The others looked shocked.

"What?" they asked. "What do you mean they took her? Who took her?"

He turned away, unable to look at either Stella or Frank.

"Dan, we need to know what happened," Frank pressed him. "When was this? And where? Dan?"

Dan was pacing up and down in front of the lift trying to contain his anger. He spat out an explanation.

"Just now, outside the school. A van came up and these black clothed guys grabbed her, stuck her in the van and drove off." Horror was dawning on his friends' faces but it was the look of concern on Stella's face the he couldn't stand. This was her fault.

He span round, eyes flashing.

"And you know why she didn't fight back? Because you told her she was no good." He was yelling now. "After all she went through, you made her think it was all her fault, that _she_ had killed her friends and messed up and you threw her out on the dump just like that."

Frank frowned. Stella looked down.

"Dan," Aneisha said shakily, distressed by her friend's outburst, "what do you mean?"

But Dan didn't want to explain. He was too angry.

"Ask her," he said instead, pointing a shaking finger at Stella.

Tom and Aneisha turned to their boss.

Stella looked up, pursing her lips.

"It wasn't like that," she began. "After her last mission, Taya and I had words about her _work_. It appeared that it was due to her mistakes the mission ended badly. They were avoidable errors and MI9 felt it wouldn't be a good idea for her to carry on working for us." She looked back at Dan, annoyed. "But we did not 'throw her out onto the dump'."

But Dan was shaking his head. Anger, scorn and disappointment twisted his features. His voice was quiet now. Deadly quiet.

"You told her it was her fault her friends died. Have you any idea what that would feel like? And then, on top of that, you sacked her." He shook his head again, not bothering to express his feelings right now. "This –" he gestured back to the lift and the world above. "This is your fault." He glared at Stella one last time. "I'm going to go find her."

With that he turned on his heel and left.

* * *

After his departure, there was silence.

No one quite knew what to say. Stella's face was a mask of quiet fury and she stared straight ahead at the closed doors of the lift.

Tom and Aneisha exchanged a glance. Both knew what they wanted to do – to go off after Dan; find Taya. But should they?

Frank's quiet voice broke the silence.

"Tom, Aneisha, I want you to go after Dan. Go to the place they kidnapped Taya. We need to work out what's happened to her. Check back in with me when you're there or if you find anything."

Silently, they nodded and quickly left the base.

* * *

"Stella?" Frank asked. She didn't reply. "Stella, talk to me. Tell me what really happened after the last mission."

Stella turned abruptly to face Frank. "You know what happened. You saw my report. Poor decisions were made on the part of Taya Shepherd which led to the death of two agents, the loss of vital information on various criminal networks, not to mention the near loss of the virus that was only later recovered by luck. As a result, there was an investigation into the procedure and practices of MI9 and the whole department was nearly shut down, not to mention the whole MI High operation. If it had got out that the government had employed teenagers in a job that had got them killed, we would have been in serious trouble. The whole thing was an absolute disaster. I had to sack Agent Shepherd. There was no other option."

She turned away from him.

"I understand the issues," Frank conceded, "But did you or did you not tell Taya that she had caused the death of her friends? Or that she was no good as an agent?"

Stella didn't answer but her silence was all the response Frank needed. He sucked in breath through his teeth.

"So not only did you sack her but you gave her a full dressing down, _and_ told her it was her fault. People make mistakes, Stella. Are you telling me that you're entire Military Intelligence career has been spotless? Have you never done the slightest thing wrong?" He shook his head in disbelief. "How could you do that? She was probably already blaming herself for the death of her friends – believe me, I've been there. Any faith in herself she still had or would regain given time, _you_ smashed to pieces."

Stella cut across him angrily.

"She needed to be reprimanded –"

"She needed to be supported!" Frank shouted. "Even if she wasn't a child, how could you _think_ that was the right response?"

Stella exhaled, annoyed. "Oh come on, Frank. This is MI9. This isn't some namby-pamby profession, we don't always have the comfort of being able to wrap our employees in cotton wool. They aren't just children, they're field agents. They are trained and trusted with dealing in the most delicate circumstances. They've done it before. They know what's expected of them."

"There's a line, Stella, and you crossed it," Frank retorted. He shook his head. "Y'know, I know several people have had their doubts about MI High – using teenagers as spies – and I'll admit there have been a couple of occasions when I've come close to having them, too, but I've come to realise: there's nothing wrong with the kids as spies. It's the adults behind them that are the problem."

Furious and disgusted, he took one last look at Stella and then followed his team out.

* * *

 **A/N: First of all, thank you so much to** **Pumpkin-Scrubs and J.4.5.M.1.N.3 and Guest for your lovely reviews! They made my day! :) I hope you enjoyed this slightly more dramatic chapter... more to come soon(ish). Please review!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Tom and Aneisha hurried down the main road heading away from St Hearts. Tom kept glancing down at his spy-pod, following a flashing red dot on a street-plan; he was tracing the tracking device in Dan's communicator.

"So Stella really did sack Taya then?" Aneisha asked.

"Looks like it," Tom replied distractedly, still concentrating on following the little red dot.

Aneisha did a double-take.

"Don't you care?" She asked indignantly.

Tom turned to her. "Of course I care! But we need to find Dan. If they got Taya then we're getting her back but we're going to need to do this as a team."

"Sorry," Aneisha apologised. "I just can't believe that Stella could be so harsh. I mean, imagine if that had been one of us."

"I know." Tom sighed. "But for now, we just need to find her. C'mon, Dan's just round this corner."

* * *

The black cloth over her head made it impossible to see. Her wrists were tied but her feet left free as she was led along, someone's hands firmly gripped on her shoulders, steering her from behind. Taya felt claustrophobia overwhelming her as she struggled to keep her bearings; her breathing seemed abnormally loud and she could feel her heart pumping blood around her body. She fought to put a lid on her panic as she tried to remember what had happened. She remembered the white van squealing up beside her; black suited figures jumping out and grabbing her, pulling her towards the van; struggling but unable to throw them off; the sight of Dan chasing after them just before one of them clamped something over her mouth and she started to lose consciousnesses; waking up on the juddering floor of the van, her wrists bound and a black cloth bag over her head. And now they were in some building - she had no idea where, but the bright yellow lights flashed through the material covering her vision as she was led briskly down a corridor.

There was a creak as a door opened and they went through, stopping a few steps in. The bag was pulled off and Taya blinked, wincing in the bright light. She'd thought she had got a hold on her fear but when she saw what was in front of her, she felt the panic rising up again, and with it, memories of that last, fateful mission…

* * *

 _"Is this it then?" Taya asked, examining the ordinary looking chest in front of her. It was a half a meter wide, a couple of feet deep and the same again high._

 _"Must be…" Nick replied. "Careful with it, though! We don't want to damage that thing!"_

 _"Well we can't move the whole thing, it's much too heavy and bulky," Jessie said. "The virus must be in a smaller container inside, right? If we can open the case, that would be more moveable."_

 _"On it," Taya said, crouching down to study the green-lit screen on the side of the box. As her team mates went through the computer, looking for any incriminating documents and saving them onto a memory stick, Taya examined the screen and keypad in front of her. She tapped some code into the keypad and it came up with some error readings. Tutting, she reached into her black backpack and pulled a miniature laptop from it. Yanking the keypad off the side of the box to reveal the wires behind, she cut a couple of them and twisted the copper with some more wires leading to her laptop. Tapping the keys briskly, she typed code into the laptop, trying to hack the system that locked the chest. She worked for a couple of minutes, frowning in concentration._

 _"You getting anywhere with that thing?" Nick said from behind her, making her jump._

 _"Give me a sec," she said. Then, "aha!"_

 _"Aha?" Jessie asked, coming over having finished transferring files._

 _The words OVERWRITE? Y/N came up on the LCD screen. Taya glanced at her friends and shrugged, pressing Y. More words appeared. PLACE HAND ON SCREEN. Hesitantly, Taya did._

 _A green light scanned her hand, like a photocopier._

 _OVERWRITE APPROVED._

 _OPEN? Y/N_

 _She pressed Y._

 _With a click, the box unlocked itself._

 _A second later, there was an explosion of noise around them._

 _Taya jumped up, shocked. Sirens wailed deafeningly. Warning lights flashed._

 _"Alarm system," Jessie said, raising her voice over the noise. "That thing must've had a trigger built in. We've gotta go."_

 _"But the virus -" said Taya._

 _"Grab it and let's go," Nick said. "We've got to get out before these goons get backup." He glanced back towards the place the guards they had knocked out earlier were. They were gone._

 _He swore._

 _"Don't worry about them," Jessie said, pulling open the lid of the box._

 _She and Taya froze. The vial was in box alright, but it was held in place with two metal brackets fastened tightly with screws._

 _"We need a screwdriver," Taya said, looking up at her teammates._

 _Nick shook his head. "Taya, we don't have time, we need to go."_

 _"But our mission was to get the virus-"_

 _"_ If _we could. Our priority is to get out without being apprehended. We can always come back with backup now we know it's here."_

 _"Fine," Taya agreed reluctantly, closing the lid on the box and standing. She felt slightly flustered: her heart was beating fast, still in shock from the sudden burst of noise, and her mind was racing. Had she accidentally set the alarms off?_

 _Taya met her Jessie's eyes and the other girl seemed to read her mind. She smiled at Taya. "Don't worry, we'll get through it," she said, ever the optimist. Taya smiled back, gratefully. We'll get through this, she thought. Like we always do._

 _Slinging bags on their backs, they swirled out of the room._

* * *

"Wonderful!" Maria Constantala said, clapping her hands together. "Simply wonderful." She sighed contentedly, contemplating Taya thoughtfully. "You know, I've been planning this for quite a while, and yet I couldn't quite decide on what I should say. I thought I should come up with something, you know, something … _dramatic_."

Taya didn't say anything. She stood where she had been left. There might have been a time when she would have fought back, or come up with some witty comeback, but not anymore. Now she just felt fear and helplessness. And anger at herself for feeling so scared. She could feel the terror rushing through her veins though she tried to keep calm.

"But anyway," The woman continued, "I can't be bothered with that kind of theatricals. So if it's alright by you, I'd like to borrow your hand."

Before she could say anything, Taya was grabbed from behind by one of the blank-faced guards that had brought her here and dragged towards the white box. He yanked her hand up and forced it on to the green screen, pressing it down with unnecessary force. Helpless, Taya could only watch as the light scanned across her palm, reading her unique print. The box clicked open. Taya was dragged away again as Constantala eagerly leant forward, opening the case to reveal the treasure within.

Cradling it as though it were a new-born baby, Constantala held the deadly vial aloft. She gazed at it with a dreamy smile on her face.

"Finally," she murmured to herself. "Time for revenge." She smiled at Taya. "And I couldn't have done it without you, my dear."

Taya swallowed and licked her dry lips. "W-what are you going to do with it?" she managed to ask.

"Hmmm," Constantala contemplated her prisoner for a moment or two. "Well I suppose there's no harm in telling you, especially as you've been so helpful." She laid the flask carefully back down. "Besides, I can't resist a captive audience."

She thought for a couple of seconds before speaking. "I used to be a scientist. Did you know that? I studied Biomolecular Medicine at university and did a PhD. But then, nobody seems to care about that. They just focus on the model thing. I gave up my life to follow my modelling career but after 5 and a half years, they dropped me." She rolled up her sleeve to reveal her forearm. Angry red marks laced up her skin like some kind of burn. "I had a bad reaction to a moisturizer I was advertising. The company paid for treatment to cover it up but it didn't work as well as they wanted and suddenly I wasn't deemed pretty enough to model. So they dumped me. First I was mocked because I was too pretty to be smart then they rejected me because I wasn't pretty enough **.**

"So I started my own business – _Delicious_ cosmetics. I admit I didn't plan anything in the way of revenge to begin with, but it was always at the back of my mind. And you hear stuff, you know, about other ways cosmetic companies have ruined other people's lives. But it wasn't until my brother first stole the virus that I started to think about some kind of revenge. I thought up a plan but my brother wouldn't even listen to it. He's not one for big or original plans; he just wanted to sell it to the highest bidder. But after that failed and my brother went to prison, I couldn't just let the opportunity pass. So I managed to procure the virus again. Of course, I couldn't hack into the in-built security system on the box and my employees aren't quiet as competent in that area," she threw her thugs a reproachful glare. "Which is why I needed to borrow you," she smiled sweetly at Taya. "But now I have it, next comes the best part. Within the week, I plan to release a brand new perfume but this one has an added surprise. This perfume … well," she smirked, "it's to die for. The virus will be safe until the products are opened and then, well, it's hard to say exactly how quickly the virus will spread. They'll work out what happened soon enough but the damage will be done. I'll be long gone. And I'll have had my revenge," she smiled looking fondly down at the deadly vial. "Combining all my careers and expertise," she murmured. "It's a deadly kind of beauty."

Taya stood in shock. She couldn't believe the insanity she was hearing. Part of her thought to reason with the woman but she was struggling to take it in, let alone think of what to say.

Maria Constantala pulled herself out of her reverie and looked back at Taya.

"Thank you for your help, my dear," she said. With a wave of her hand, she instructed her guards to take the girl away. As if in a dream, or perhaps a nightmare, Taya allowed herself to be led out of the room.

* * *

 **A/N: This took longer to sort than I thought so sorry for the wait...! Next chapter should be up sooner... (and also slightly longer). Thank you for reading and please review.**

 **Thank you to J.4.5.M.1.N.3 for the review!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

If Dan was pleased to see his friends, he didn't show it. He was clearly, at least in part, annoyed by their arrival. He glanced up as they approached but didn't greet them. He was examining the black tyre marks left on the road by the van speeding off.

"This is where they grabbed her," he said brusquely. "The tyre marks are from the van."

Tom crouched down next the marks opening out his spy-pod and taking a photo of them.

"I'll run a trace on them, see if we can find the vehicle they belong to," he said watching as a series of numbers and words flicked across the screen. "Urgh," he said when it had finished. "The tyres are a common brand. There's over a thousand matches, just in this area."

"Dan," Aneisha asked, "Did you manage to get the number plate?"

He frowned looking annoyed with himself. "No, it went off too quickly." He said.

"Well, anyway," Aneisha continued, "we'd better look around, see if they left anything behind."

Just then an old lady pushing a tartan trolley approached them. Tom and Aneisha looked up but Dan ignored her, focused on his search.

"Are you from the police?" the woman asked.

"Sorry?" Aneisha said, coming towards her.

"Oh, sorry dear, you're younger than I thought you were. I thought you might have been from the police following up my complaint."

"Complaint?" Aneisha asked.

"Ooh yes, dear. A ruddy great van speeding off along the road earlier this morning. Made one hell of a racket, almost gave me a heart attack! There's so many people like that these days," she sighed, "there's a motorbike that roars up here twice a day! And you know, the only way to stop it is to talk to the police. The council will do nothing about it unless people complain. So I phoned them up, spoke to a lovely young man, said they'd look into it. See I had their number plate so –"

"Number plate?" Dan cut in, suddenly interested.

"Yes, dear." The lady looked surprised. "From the van. The police can use it to find the owners, you see."

"Can you still remember it?" Tom asked hopefully.

"Of course, dear. You know my memory may not be too good for somethings but I've always had a memory for numbers. It was CP09 RJA."

Immediately Tom started entering the code into his spy-pod, brow furrowed as he searched the MI9 database for a match.

"Got it. Belongs to a company called _Schumann's_ they've got a warehouse over at Bridgestock – not far from here."

Anneisha looked up sharply. "Isn't that one of Constantala's distributors?"

Tom looked back at her with alarm.

"Let's go." Dan said immediately, heading off down the road.

"Dan, wait!" Aneisha called after him but he didn't stop. She sighed, looking in exasperation and concern at Tom. Tom stuffed his spy-pod into his pocket and started after his friend.

Aneisha turned hurriedly to the elderly woman.

"Thank you," She said gratefully. "And… I hope they sort out the motorbikes soon." She too jogged after the boys, leaving the lady slightly bewildered.

* * *

"Dan!"

Tom was calling after him but Dan didn't stop. The sooner they got there, the sooner they could find Taya. It wasn't just that he wanted to see his new friend back safe and sound, but Dan felt guilty. He had been there, when she had been grabbed; he should have got to her sooner.

It was when he reached the end of the road that he realised he didn't exactly know where they were heading. Annoyed, he impatiently waited for Tom to catch up.

"Hurry up!" he called.

Tom caught up, breathing heavily and clutching his side. "Oh, I am so not made for this kind of thing," he muttered to himself.

"Tom!" Dan said urgently. "Which way?"

Aneisha caught up with them.

"Thanks for waiting," she said sarcastically, glaring at Dan.

"Look, the sooner we get there the better. So which way?"

"Wait," Aneisha said. "We should check in with Frank first. Let him know where we're going."

Dan scoffed. "What so he can stop us? Sack us, like he did Taya?"

Aneisha tutted. "Come on, Dan. We don't know for sure what happened but that wasn't Frank. If we can't trust him, we can't trust anyone."

"Maybe we can't."

"What?"

"Maybe we can't trust MI9." Dan said. "Okay, yeah, we don't know everything that happened with that mission but we know something's going on. They're not telling us the full story. And I'm not going to wait around and let them mess anything else up. Now are you coming or not?"

Tom and Aneisha exchanged a worried look but nodded.

"Okay," Tom said. "It's this way."

* * *

Taya sat, hunched up in a corner of the room she had been taken to, knees brought up close to her body. It was an old office or something; cleared out, mostly, with only the fixed furniture, the odd dead fly and a lot of dust left behind. There was no window and the door had been locked firmly behind her making escape impossible. There was also no way of telling what time it was, nor how long she had been trapped in there. The small space and lack of natural light made Taya feel claustrophobia rising.

Taya winced as she gently touched the lump that had formed on her forehead, where it had connected with the van. Lowering her hand she noticed it shaking. She stared at it for a couple of seconds. That was new. When had she started being so afraid? She remembered a time when she rarely got scared and when she did, she used that fear to help her. Her training and logic took precedence over anxiety and fear. Tears pricked her eyes and she clenched her hand into a tight fist, nails digging in to her palm. She turned her face away, resting her cheek on her arms. She was annoyed with herself: angry that she was so scared, but, at the same time, she couldn't help it. The helplessness and fear were just too strong. And she had no one with her to help; no Jessie or Nick by her side anymore. And she couldn't stop the memories flooding back, unwanted, into her mind.

 _"We'll get out of here."_

 _That's what Jessie had said. It was what she always said. And never before had Taya any reason to doubt that. No matter how many tight corners they had got themselves into, or how many close calls they had missed, they had got out the other side. So there was no reason for this to be any different. They were a team: they stuck together and made it work._

 _Taya determinedly reminded herself of that as she fiddled with the wiring of a keypad on a security panel on the wall by one of the offices. Apparently, the lockdown sequence that had been set off had locked all the doors. Doors being a lose term that meant six-inch, solid steel blast doors in this case – because what more could you expect from an ex-SKULL base?_

 _She'd left Jessie and Nick dealing with the guards that had jumped them just outside the office but her friends reappeared just as Taya had nearly hacked the system._

 _"What is it?" Taya asked, noticing the grave look on Nick's face as he let Jessie lean on his shoulder. The girl looked slightly pale and Taya noticed she wasn't putting her right foot down fully._

 _"You okay?" Taya asked, concerned._

 _Jessie looked pale but smiled "I'm fine. But we've got another problem –"_

 _"Taya, it's not just the doors," Nick said, breathing heavily._

 _"We overheard on the guards' radios before they ran off – this place is going to blow," Jessie continued. "Self-destruct or something. They ran off. We've only got six minutes to get out."_

* * *

The _Schumann's_ warehouse sat on the very end of a string of about five or six warehouses on the edge of town. Compared to the others it looked much more dilapidated, as though it hadn't been in use for several years. A tall fence encirledencircled the perimetreperimeter, topped with barbed wire. Weeds sprung up around the walls and between cracks in the tarmac. If it wasn't for the new looking automatic gate and the vans parked outside, it would have been easy to assume it was long abandoned.

"This place looks pretty run down," Anneisha commented, frowning. "I thought this was one Constantala still used."

"Well, we're in the right place," Tom said focusing the binoculars on the number plate of one of the vans. "That's the van Dan saw them take Taya away in. Maybe the company that owns it doesn't use it anymore." Tom shrugged. "It would give Constantala the opportunity to use it for her nefarious plans."

The three spies were crouched on a ridge that separated the warehouses from the motorway, looking down on the complex. Dan had wanted to head straight in but the others had convinced him to wait and check it out, reasoning that rushing in and getting caught would not help Taya in the slightest.

"Can't see any patrol or guards or anything," Tom muttered, "but that security camera system looks new."

"Can you block them or something?" Aneisha asked.

"What do you think I am? Some sort of technical genius?" Tom glanced round, sounding annoyed.

"Well, yeah?"

"Exactly. That's what I am," Tom agreed, looking back through the binoculars. "Hmm… I might be able when we get closer, but I can't get signal from here."

"Good." Dan said. "Let's get closer then."

Despite its age, there was no way to get through the wire fencing without wire cutters, which the agents did not have. The fierce barbed wire on top prevented them climbing over and the long drop made it even less popular of an option. There was a camera fixed on the main gate, watching anyone approaching. Crouching just out of the camera's line of sight, the team waited whilst Tom opened up his spy-pod.

"There we go… I've tapped into the camera system and if I just… aha! There we go!"

"We good?" Dan asked.

"Yep, I've made the camera play the last 60 seconds on a loop, so they won't even know the cameras stopped working. Well, not until night fall. But if we're still here then, we've got other problems"

"Brilliant!" Aneisha exclaimed. Dan was less enthusiastic.

"Alright. Let's go," he said, moving closer to the gate, keeping his eyes on the doors in case someone came out.

The gate had a key pad on it, requesting a 9 digit number for entry.

"Great." Dan stared at it. "Tom?"

"Always here to help," he said, holding the spy-pod over the number buttons. "MI9 not so useless all the time then, eh?" he asked smugly. As the gadget scanned the keys, working out the code.

Dan didn't respond, waiting for Tom to punch in the correct sequence of numbers. The lock flashed green and with a buzz the gate sprang open.

His blue eyes met his friends' eyes, deadly serious.

"Ready?" He asked. They nodded. "Let's go.

* * *

 _"This place is going to blow," Jessie continued. "Self-destruct or something. We've only got six minutes to get out."_

 _Taya paled. "Self-destruct? Who the hell puts a self-destruct system in their base?"_

 _"The Grandmaster does, apparently," Nick said, grimly._

 _"Don't worry, we've got time – they said there's a timer - about six minutes left," Jessie said, "Just hurry."_

 _Taya swallowed and turned back to the control pad. "Okay, if this place is going into shut down mode, it would explain why the doors aren't responding to their usual commands. If I had external access I could do something," she looked at Nick who seemed to read her mind._

 _"Can't," he said. "This place is a radio dead zone remember? No communication."_

 _Taya swore under her breath._

 _"Well in that case, I can only open these doors but only for sixty seconds. We've got to make it through the last door in time." She looked up at her friends. "Look – you guys get a head start. If there's still a couple of minutes before this place goes up, I can give you a bit of time before opening it –"_

 _"Taya," Nick interrupted, "No. We're all getting out of here,"_

 _"He's right," Jessie said._

 _"Now quit wasting time, and get the doors open,"_

 _Taya wished she had longer to think – to convince her friends or come up with a better plan but the seconds were counting ticking by and they didn't know how long they had left. She finished her job._

 _"They're open," she said, "We've got sixty seconds,"_

 _"Let's move,"_

 _They ran._

* * *

"Okay." Taya whispered to herself, dragging her sleeve across her eyes and standing up quickly. _I am not going to stay in here, crying and helpless,_ she told herself resolutely. _I'm going to get up and get out_.

She looked around the room, looking for an escape. So. No window.

The door then. They had definitely locked it behind them but she tried the handle, just in case. It didn't move. Could she kick it down? Probably not: it was a big heavy door that opened in on the room and if she injured herself she wouldn't be able to get very far. Besides, if she started battering on the door, it wouldn't be long before someone heard and came to investigate. So how could she get out of her prison? And then what? How was she going to get out of this place – whatever, it was? Taya shook herself. _Mind on the job_ , she thought. Focusing on one step at a time helped her keep down her anxiety.

Leaning in to get a better look, Taya examined the lock. It looked like a standard enough lock with a largish keyhole, like you'd find on any door, but she had nothing to pick it with. Taya cursed that she never wore hair pins or slides. Jessie had always seemed to have one at the ready, but then she'd always had perfect hair - neatly styled in a variety of ways - whereas sticking it in a pony-tail and leaving it to get messy before tying it back up again was more Taya's style. She had nothing in her pockets either, not even a pen. She made a silent promise to herself that, granted she got out of there, she would never go anywhere without a pin or else a proper lock-picking kit. She turned back to the roomed, scanning her eyes around in search of anything useful. Nothing. She went to the metal storage cabinet and pulled open the door. It was empty apart from a screwdriver and a couple of nails sitting on the top shelf. Evidently, efforts to pack the place up had been abandoned part way through.

Taya picked up the screwdriver and the nails and examined them thoughtfully. The screwdriver was much too big to fit into the lock but could one of the nails be any good? Well, it was worth a try.

Taya knelt in front of the door, bringing the lock to eye level. She tried poking one of the nails into the key-hole. It fit but only just. Taya took it out again, frowning. The nail hadn't gone in as far as she thought it would. She looked closer at the keyhole and realised that she couldn't see through it. There must be something blocking it. The key! They must have left it in there. Taya's mind whirled with a new plan. She looked around the room, yanking open draws and looking behind the cabinet, searching for some paper or card or anything thin and flat. There was nothing: the office had been cleared of things like that a long time ago. Growling in frustration, she slammed the desk draw and turned back to the door. That was when she noticed the metal framed emergency instructions that was stuck on the door at about head height. The frame itself was too firmly stuck to the door but the safety instructions were fitted behind a thin sheet of plastic: perfect for her plan. She smiled a little at the irony that the emergency escape instructions would, in fact, help her escape. She scrabbled at the plastic but there was no room for a hold. Grabbing the screwdriver, she used the end to prise up the metal frame on one side revealing the edge of the plastic and allowing her to rip it out.

Feeling elated, Taya knelt back down. Now came the tricky bit. She hoped to hell that there was no one outside the door, or if they were that they wouldn't notice what she was about to do. But she'd know pretty soon if anyone did spot her. Feeling her heart beating wildly, Taya took a deep breath. She slid the sheet of plastic under the door directly beneath the lock, making sure it went as far through as she could allow it to without losing the end of it on her side of the door. Then she picked up the nail again and poked it back into the keyhole, slowly pushing it in against the key, making the key slip out the other side. Just as the screw had gone nearly its full length into the key hole Taya heard a clink of the key falling on to the other side. She caught her breath. She listened for a second to make sure nobody had heard anything then, praying the key had landed on the plastic, and that it wouldn't be too thick to fit through the one centimetre gap between the door and the floor, she gently pulled the plastic through an inch at a time. When she thought the plastic was nearly all the way back the steel key finally appeared through the gap sat innocently the plastic.

Taya almost cried out in joy and relief but managed to rein it in. Still the win had given her a lift and for the first time in what seemed like a long time, she felt that buzz being on a mission always gave her: a flash of adrenaline and confidence in her own abilities.

Next task though, was to get out of this place - wherever she was. But she couldn't just do that. She had no idea of the scale of Constantala's plan, or how soon she was planning to put it into action. Taya couldn't leave here in good conscience if this might be the only chance to stop the ex-model's plan.

But first to leave her prison. Key in hand, Taya leant her ear against the door, listening. She heard footsteps, quiet voices. Whether or not they had been there before, someone was on the other side of the door. Were they moving on? Or were they there to stay? She couldn't tell. Better to be safe: she cast around for a weapon and her eyes fell on the broken chair. She smiled grimly to herself.

* * *

Once the spies were inside they barely saw any guards. Which was good for them, but it also probably meant they were nowhere close to wherever Taya, Constantala or the virus were.

"How are we supposed to find Taya in this place?" Aneisha asked, keeping her voice low for fear of unwanted listeners. "We don't even know for definite she is here."

"We'll search the entire place until we either find Taya or Constantala," Dan replied stubbornly as he led the way down the corridor.

Out of the corner of his eye, Dan saw Tom and Aneisha exchange an uneasy look but he ignored them. Perhaps this wasn't the best way they could have approached the rescue mission, but it was what they had now.

Tom had slowed down, peering into one of the empty rooms.

"D'you think there's an office somewhere here? Where the security feed goes to et cetera? Maybe if we find that we can have a chance at working out where what is and how many guards there are around."

Dan considered this. It didn't sound a bad idea.

"You just don't feel right without a computer in front of you," Aneisha joked.

"What can I say? I'm a tech guy," Tom replied wiggling his fingers in imitation of typing.

"Well, why don't we split up? You go look for –" Dan started but Aneisha interrupted him.

"Hold on a second, I don't think we should start splitting up –"

"Shush!" Tom hissed suddenly. Aneisha turned to him, affronted at being told to shush but Tom looked serious. "I think there's someone in there," he said pointing to a door just ahead on their left.

They all went quiet, listening.

The door burst open, making them all jump back in surprise. Dan raised his fists ready to fight but stopped short as soon as he saw who came out.

"Taya!"

She, too, had raised her hands: she was holding what looked like a metal chair leg, but had stopped on recognition. Aneisha rushed forward and pulled the bewildered looking Taya into an embrace.

"Thank god!" Aneisha said.

Dan hadn't realised how tense he'd been, probably since Taya had first gone missing, until he felt a rush of relief race through him. He sort of wanted to give Taya a hug too but now felt awkward and hung back.

"Are you okay?" he asked as Aneisha let her go. Taya looked pale and still slightly dazed at the surprise reunion but nodded.

"Mostly."

"Right, then," Tom said, cheerfully, "Stage one of the rescue mission accomplished. Now, let's get out of here."

But Taya shook her head.

"We can't. We've got to stop Constantala."

Quickly she told them what the ex-model had told her, horror rising on the spies' faces as she explained.

"We've got to stop her!" Aneisha said.

"Agreed," Dan said firmly. He narrowed his eyes, thinking. "We'd better split up. Tom and Neish, you go that way." He locked eyes with Tom. "The cameras? See if you can find the control room. We'll go this way," he said to Taya, "get that virus".

The others nodded.

"Let's go," said Dan.

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Its a bit longer (that may or may not be good I don't know) - that's just the way it worked out.**

 **So, I always saw myself as the martial arts type person – like Dan or something but now I realise that Tom "again with the running" "please tell me you didn't forget the biscuits" Tupper is me ;)**

 **Please review if you can as I really love to hear comments and feedback however long or short! (Thanks again to J.4.5.M.1.N.3 (Jasmine) for your reviews!)**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"D'you think you know where they've got the virus?" Dan asked Taya.

She looked unsure, but nodded.

"I think so, but we've got to be careful: I've seen at least seven people working for Constantala."

"Okay, then. Lead on," he said and quickly they set off.

Taya led the way along the empty corridor, trying to remember where she had come from when they had locked her up. She glanced back at Dan.

"How did you find me?" she asked, keeping her voice low.

"Some lady saw the registration of the van they snatched you in and Tom worked out where it came from. I'm only sorry we didn't get here quicker."

"Are you kidding?" Taya asked and Dan threw her a confused look. "I'm just annoyed I didn't get the chance to show off my kick-ass skills," she said with a grin. Dan returned it – somewhat relived to see the return of Taya's jokey side.

"What? With a chair leg?" he shot back.

"Don't underestimate the power of furniture," she said ominously, slightly spoiling the effect with a smirk.

Her smile faded again as they carried on down the corridor. Dan noticed the tense look on her face.

"Hey," Dan said, gently, "we're going to get through this."

Taya didn't respond immediately and Dan wondered if he'd said the right thing. Eventually, she turned to him with a small smile.

"C'mon," she said.

Checking the coast was clear, they headed down a couple of flights of stairs and along a white-walled corridor. Taya stopped outside a set of double swing doors fitted with square windows on their left. Dan could hear the sound of machinery whirring from behind them. They ducked down by the door then quickly stuck their heads up, peering through the windows in the doors. The room was filled with large machinery – some sort of conveyor belt system - but as far as they could see, no people. And across the room, the white chest sat on a table, its lid still open.

Double checking they hadn't been spotted, Dan and Taya gently pushed open the doors and slipped inside.

"This must be it," Dan whispered, looking warily at the unassuming vial that held the deadly virus. He glanced at Taya for confirmation and saw that her smile had disappeared again, replaced by a nervous frown.

"Let's take it and get out of here," she said and took a step forward but got no further.

One of Constantala's guards appeared from behind the machines. Dan cursed internally. They had been stupid to think the virus would be left unguarded. He took a step forward to join Taya, ready to fight their way to the virus and gasped in surprise as he was grabbed from behind.

* * *

"… Now we've got the vial we're ready to move into the next phase - "

Both Tom and Aneisha heard it at the same time. Eyes wide, they stopped dead, staring at each other, listening to Constantala's voice issuing from an office further down the corridor.

Slowly, Aneisha padded down the corridor, positioning herself closer to the office. She beckoned Tom to follow her.

"It may be some time but at some point someone will notice the girl's absence and may trace her here. We need to finish up here and move out."

Just then there was static and a voice over a radio said, "Ms Constantala? We've got an issue down here, boss. We've apprehended some intruders. You'd better come."

Aneisha felt her heart skip a beat. Had Dan and Taya been caught?

"Hold them there." Constantala replied with brisk authority, "I'm on my way."

Aneisha's heart leapt in shock. Spinning away, she and Tom whirled down the corridor and round the corner, pressing themselves against the wall, holding their breath. And just in time as, a second later, the cosmetics executive swept down the corridor followed by a guard, straight past the spies.

Exhaling in relief, they waited until they could no longer hear her footsteps before looking back down the corridor. In her haste to leave, Constantala had left the office door ajar. Aneisha glanced at Tom.

"Dan and Taya…" Aneisha said, the worry clear in her voice.

"You go," said Tom. "I'll check out her office. I can try and hack their radios so they can't communicate. And I'll call Frank. I don't care what Dan thinks," he said as Aneisha looked concerned. "We need back up."

Aneisha nodded grimly. She turned to go.

"Hey, 'Neish?" Tom called.

She looked back.

"Stay safe."

"You too," she said with a nod and left, jogging after Constantala.

* * *

Tom clenched his jaw, watching as Aneisha ran after Constantala. He, too, was worried about his friends but he knew Aneisha would be much better at helping them than he would. Here, he could do what he was good at.

Carefully he pushed open the office door, looking cautiously in case someone else had been in there but the room was empty. Quickly, he slid inside and shut the door behind him.

Looking around he took a second to think.

First of all: the radios. Somewhere there should be a box that controlled them, and as this was the main office of the place…. There. Tom quickly examined it wondering the best way to stop the radios transmitting. Then he found the off switch.

"Aha," he muttered, pressing it. A little red light came on, indicating that radio signals weren't being transmitted.

Next he lent over the computer on the desk that displayed the views from the security cameras around the building. They still seemed to be showing the loop he'd set them on earlier. He tapped away for a few seconds.

"Bingo!" he exclaimed. Now he could see the live feed from the cameras, but they wouldn't show the footage on any other screen the cameras were connected to – just in case they had a second control room.

Finally he pulled out his pencil communicator and switched it on.

"Frank?" he said, his eyes scanning the images in front of him.

Frank answered immediately. "Tom? Where are you? Why didn't you report back earlier?" He sounded annoyed but slightly relieved.

Tom ignored the second question, "We've found Taya, we're at –" he gave the address of the warehouse, "But we need backup." He briefly explained the situation.

"Okay, backup is on its way, ETA 10 minutes." Frank still sounded a little annoyed and Tom could feel the unspoken 'we'll talk about this later' hanging in the air.

"I'm keeping an eye on everything – I can let you know where the guards are," Tom offered, leaning back in the chair, feeling a little less tense.

Something caught his eye.

There was a folder sticking out of one of the desk draws. He pulled it out, opening it and examining its contents. It seemed to be blueprints of something. He looked closer, brow furrowed. It was a plan of some sort of building – something about it looked familiar. And with it was a sheet entitled 'Security'. He examined it for a few seconds. Then his eyes widened as he realised something. Something important. He put two and two together and for once it made four. But someone else, he realised, had made six.

"Frank," he spoke into his communicator again. "I've found something else, too…"

* * *

Constantala stood in front of her captives, considering them with piercing blue eyes. Dan struggled in the grip of his captor but to no avail. Taya seemed to have frozen.

Maria tutted. "Oh dear, Taya. This really won't do. And I thought we were friends."

Dan glanced over at Taya. He could see the fear on her face. Her lip was trembling but she tightened her jaw, trying to keep the panic in. Amid the terror in her eyes, there was a hint of steeliness, refusing to let it take over. Dan took a second to be impressed. He had seen a little of Taya's thoughts after her last MI9 mission, and after Stella. He could see how scared she was, and could only imagine what was going on in her mind, yet despite all of that, she had the strength to keep going day in, day out and even when faced with such situations as this. This girl was different to the one he had watched confidently fighting her way through several armed KORPS agents in Siberia on the MI9 database, but somehow, despite all that had happened, this girl was the stronger one.

"You're not going to get away with this," Dan snarled. He knew it was unlikely Constantala would listen, but instinct told him to play for time. "MI9 know we're here and back up is on its way," He bluffed. "You'd better just give up now."

Maria glanced at him. She seemed to find him amusing.

"Brave words considering your position," she said. "Even if MI9 are on their way, I'll be long gone. It won't take long for me to pack all this up and by the time the perfumes have been distributed, they'll be impossible to trace before it's too late. I'm sure after that they'll recall all the products but by then the damage will be done. And I'll have had my revenge."

She held up the small vial that contained the virus for them to see.

Turning away from them she looked at the third guard. "Go and check the rest of the place. See if we've got anymore unwanted visitors."

"Your brother would disagree," Dan called as the guard left. He had to distract her, stop her from carrying out her plan and it was all he could think of. "He was the one who guessed what you might be planning and ratted on you. And why shouldn't he? You didn't show much sisterly love."

Maria turned back to him.

"My brother lacked vision. All he cared about was money; selling this off to the highest bidder when it could be used for so much more.

"And what do you care about?" A voice came from the other side of the concourse. Heads turned and Dan saw, with mixed relief and concern, Aneisha walking towards them. She kept a fair distance though: Constantala only had two of her bodyguards here and they were occupied with Dan and Taya, but as the only person un-hindered, she didn't want to risk losing her advantage.

Constantala pursed her lips, eyes flashing in annoyance. "Seems I need to upgrade my security system," she said, glaring at Aneisha.

Aneisha carried on talking.

"What is it you want to achieve by this?" she asked.

Constantala narrowed her eyes. She clearly didn't care much for answering the question but decided to answer. "Revenge," she said.

"Sure, revenge on the people who wronged you," Aneisha said, "But why target innocent people?"

"You researched in medicine, right?" Dan continued and Maria's head snapped back to look at him. "Medicine's all about helping people. When did that change in your mind?"

"Helping people who don't deserve it," she snarled. "Nobody helped me after my career was ruined. I had to help myself. And all the other people who've had their lives ruined by injuries like mine? What help do they get?"

"But those are the people you'll be hurting! Not the big companies or anyone who did anything to you. If you want to change anything, try campaigning - raise awareness or something. Don't cause more pain."

"Enough of this!" Constantala snapped, her cheeks red with anger.

Aneisha had moved so she was only a couple of feet away from Constantala. The woman was distracted: her full attention on Dan. Seeing her chance, Aneisha made a grab for the vial but Constantala snapped back grabbing the girls arm and twisting it round. Aneisha twisted out of the brace, grappling Maria for the vial.

Dan used the diversion to his advantage. While his guard was occupied, Dan jerked his head back violently, smacking it into the chin of his captor, causing the man to reel backward, crashing into the guard that held Taya, who lost his hold on her. Aneisha had managed to take the vial but Maria kicked her legs from beneath her and as she fell backwards her hand flew upwards, and let go.

All eyes followed the vial as it flew up into the air, flipping once, twice, before falling as if in slow motion.

"Taya!" Dan yelled struggling to escape the guard's grip. She knew what he wanted her to do and, eyes raised, face set in concentration, she took two steps and caught the vial.

Dan felt the tension built up release, but only for a moment. Aneisha struggled to get to her feet, dazed from hitting her head on the floor. Maria rose, her hair coming down from its bun, her face twisted in a snarl.

"GIVE THAT BACK TO ME," she growled, advancing on Taya.

Taya backed away from the enraged woman. She was still clutching the deadly vial but as she glanced around, she realised she had nowhere to go.

* * *

 **A/N: Cliffhanger! You're welcome.**

 **Sorry this chapter took such a long time to be posted...! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas/ New Year/ general winter-ness. The next chapter may well be the last one... (possibly.) The end is nigh! Please leave a review!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"THIS IS MI9! EVERYBODY GET DOWN!"

The voice yelled across the open space, followed by a clanging and hissing noise as smoke canisters hit the ground and released smoke into the air. Constantala's men doubled over as the smoke entered their lungs and fell to their knees unable to see.

Through the smoke, Dan made out several black-clad, masked figures spilling into the warehouse and training their weapons on Constantala's guards. There was a fair bit of tumult as the newcomers disarmed and handcuffed the two guards and the two more that came bursting in.

Blinking through the smoke Dan looked around for his friends. Aneisha had dropped to the floor to avoid the worst of the smoke and was breathing through her sleeve, well out of harm's way. Then he spotted something that made his heart skip a beat. Constantala, who had pulled her scarf up around her face to prevent herself inhaling the smoke, had grabbed a dazed looking Taya and was dragging her off out of the main concourse.

"Hey!" Dan yelled, chasing after them.

Out in the corridor, he could see clearly again. Fifty meters or so ahead, Constantala was striding towards the exit, dragging a struggling Taya by her neck.

"Hey!" Dan yelled again, charging down the corridor.

Maria turned around. Her hair was disheveled and her face contorted with anger. She looked completely wild; no longer the put-together business owner from before. She had pulled a knife from somewhere and was holding a knife to Taya's throat.

"Stay where you are!" she warned.

Dan skidded to a halt, heart racing.

"Let her go," he said, holding his hands out, palms raised in calming gesture, though he felt anything but calm.

Taya's eyes were wide and fearful as she struggled but Constantala's grip was strong. Dan noticed she still had her fist closed tight around the vial. Constantala seemed to have forgotten about it.

"Yeah, right," the ex-model sneered. "Call it my insurance. I'm getting out of here and you can't stop me."

Wait!" A voice appeared at Dan shoulder and he glanced over to see Aneisha. "You don't have to do this." Dan wasn't sure the woman would listen to Aneisha anymore than to him but it didn't matter as she didn't get any further.

There was a crash as the fire exit behind Maria burst open and several more MI9 agents came in. They quickly registered the situation at hand and didn't move any closer. Constantala spun round at the interruption but didn't release her hold on Taya.

Aneisha took a cautious step forward.

"Just let her go," she said calmly, keeping her eyes steadily on Maria. "It will be much better for you."

Dan could see the desperate look in Maria's eyes. She could see she was trapped but she didn't look as though she wanted to let Taya go. Then Taya's eyes met his and he noticed her eyes narrow slightly as the same steely resolve he had seen in her early took charge.

One of the MI9 agents behind her took a step forward and Constantala turned to look. Using her distraction, Taya elbowed her captor hard in the stomach causing her to double over in pain and release Taya. Taya grabbed the woman's hand that still held the weapon and smacked it against the wall, forcing her to drop it. Dan leapt forward and snatched it up.

"It's over," he said, looking down at the woman on the floor. She was cradling her hand and glaring furiously up at the MI High agents.

"It's never over," she snarled, as two burly agents grabbed her and pulled her to her feet.

"For you it is," Dan replied firmly.

* * *

MI9 had done a pretty thorough clean-up job: Maria Constantala had been escorted off the premises, along with her hired muscle; none of the perfume bottles had been contaminated and the virus was safely returned to its box, ready to be taken away.

Frank found Dan, Tom, Aneisha and Taya watching procedures quietly from the side-lines and they headed back to HQ for debriefing.

"What I don't get is how MI9 knew where to come in," Dan said as they came out of the lift into the spy base.

"It was me," Tom admitted, slumping down into his computer chair and swivelling to face the others. "When we heard Constantala had found you two, I contacted Frank and let him know what was going on and he did the rest."

"You should have contacted me sooner," he reprimanded them. "But fortunately we managed to scramble a team in time."

"MI9 not so useless after all then, eh, Dan?" said Tom, mischievously.

"Hmm…" Dan agreed reluctantly. "I suppose I should apologise," he said to Frank.

Frank smiled. "Well, I can't say I'm entirely happy about it but you did what you thought was right. And we wouldn't have found Taya if you hadn't. Besides," he continued but was interrupted.

"Besides, it's not you who should apologise," Stella said, emerging from the back of the room. "It's me."

Dan stared at her in surprise.

The Chief Agent turned to Taya who was standing quietly at the back of the group. She took a deep breath and spoke. "Taya, I'm sorry. What I said to you after your last mission was totally out of order and furthermore, not even true. Regardless of what happened on that mission, you were one of our best agents and, well, everyone deserves second chances. My insensitivity was disgusting and I'm not expecting you to forgive me. But you should know that I am sorry."

Taya looked at Stella silently for a few moments as if trying to work out what to say. In the end she just nodded. It wasn't clear if that meant she was forgiving the woman or just acknowledging that she had heard, but some sort of understanding passed between the two of them.

"There's something else, too," Tom said, looking hesitantly at Frank who nodded. Tom stood, coming closer to the group. "When I was in Constantala's office at the warehouse I found this." He pulled out several pages of blueprints and laid them out on the glass surface for them all to see. "It's the plans for the SKULL base were Constantala's brother was originally using," he explained, "and it shows the security systems the Grandmaster put in place. The booby trap was already in place before SKULL abandoned it. And it was on a completely self-contained system."

"So what does that mean?" Aneisha asked.

"It means it couldn't have been you who set off the alarm, Taya. There's no way Antonio Constantala could have connected the box into the security system of the SKULL base. Opening wouldn't have set anything off. It must have been one of Constantala's guards who set it off."

"So…"

"So it was nothing to do with you," Dan said turning to look at Taya.

The girl looked from Tom to Dan and back again, her face pale. Then she span away and fled into the lift.

Dan started to go after her, but Frank stopped him.

"Give her a few minutes," he said. Dan wanted to argue but realised that, of all of them, Frank knew most what Taya was going through. Stella remained silent. Her gaze was locked on the plans, but her mind seemed to be elsewhere.

"On a more positive note," Frank continued after a brief glance in Stella's direction, "You've all done a great job: Constantala didn't manage to inject any of the virus into the perfume. We managed to get the sample back fully intact as well as being sure none of the products were contaminated. Furthermore, she didn't manage to get away and this time there is plenty of evidence to convict her of her crimes."

Despite this, Dan couldn't help feel like they'd lost. He could tell from the slightly sombre looks on his friends faces that they felt the same. They had won, but Taya had still lost. Bringing Constantala to justice hadn't brought her friends back and it had been a close call all around.

"But we saved a lot of people," Aneisha pointed out, responding to a question nobody had voiced. She sounded a little uncertain, as though she wanted reassurance.

"And that is no small achievement," Frank reminded them, firmly. "Don't forget that."

* * *

The team had left the base and only Frank and Stella were left. Frank had sat down at the computer, and started tapping away at the keys, writing up his report. He knew Stella was still there, and could tell she was waiting to say something. But he wasn't going to prompt her.

"Frank," she said, quietly, none of her usual business-like manner. He didn't turn around, but he paused his typing to indicate he was listening.

Stella took a deep breath. "I made a huge mistake," she admitted. "I see that now. I – I wanted you to know that. And that I'm sorry. I can't change what I did or… what I said, but…" She trailed off.

Frank didn't respond immediately but eventually he stood and faced Stella. Part of him still felt angry and he realised he still felt as though she had let him down. But he knew how much Stella hated being wrong and hated admitting her fault even more. This was her trying to make it right.

"It could have ended much worse," he said, eyebrows raised. "But I think we've all learned lessons today." Stella looked relieved that he didn't ask her to say anymore.

"These kids never fail to impress me," Frank said, smiling.

"They're good agents," Stella agreed. " _All_ of them are."

* * *

 _"So, just to clarify: we're breaking in to an ex-SKULL base – well known for their totally OTT defences – to retrieve a vial containing a virus that, if it's released, could kill thousands of people?" Nick summed up._

 _"Piece of cake," said Taya, sardonically._

 _Jessie, always more optimistic, frowned at her friends' attitudes._

 _"We can do this," she said confidently. "Dream team, right?"_

 _Taya smiled. "Sure."_

 _"Come on!" Jessie said, extending her arms. "Group hug!"_

 _Taya raised an eyebrow but was grinning as she accepted the other girls arm._

 _"Seriously?" Nick groaned, as though hugging was miles beneath him._

 _"Come on, Nick!" Jessie pouted, flapping her hand in his direction as though it would encourage him to join their hug._

 _"Yeah, come on, Nick," Taya joked. He rolled his eyes but grudgingly hugged the girls back._

 _"You guys are lame," he said, but smirked at them._

 _"And you wouldn't have us any other way," Taya said, poking her tongue out._

* * *

Taya was outside when Dan found her a while later. She was sat on the brick wall of the raised flower bed, staring into space. She looked up as he approached and smiled briefly which Dan took as a sign that she welcomed his company. He noticed that the skin around her eyes was red and puffy and her eyes were a little bloodshot but she didn't seem to be crying any more.

He sat down next to her and for a few moments they sat quietly side by side watching as Mr Flatly stowed folders and books into a bag on the back of his bike across the courtyard.

"…Are you going to be alright?" Dan asked after a while.

Taya was silent for a long while, her eyes apparently fixed on Mr Flatly and Dan wasn't sure if she would answer or if she had actually heard him. Finally she said,

"I think so. Eventually." She sighed. "I know now it wasn't my fault… but they're still gone. I still feel like I should have done _something_ –" She broke off and looked away. She watched Mr Flatley fasten his helmet onto his head, climb onto his bicycle and cycle out of the school gates. "But it feels good to have finally closed the door on our last mission, though. Like they didn't die in vain…" she trailed off again.

Dan let her take her time. His heart ached for her and he wished he could say something that would instantly make her better. But he knew that it would take time; perhaps a long time, for these wounds to heal.

"I'm sure they would be very proud of you. And happy you survived - so don't ever feel guilty about that." Dan said quietly.

Taya turned back to him with a slightly watery smile.

"Thanks," she said, a little awkwardly. "For coming after me. For believing in me. For… everything."

"Thank _you_ ," Dan replied with a grin. "You saved the day – who knows what would have happened if that vial had smashed."

"We both did pretty good, huh?" Taya agreed.

They were both quiet again, staring off into the distance.

"Will you come back and work for MI9 again d'you think?" Dan asked.

Taya shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think I'm quite ready for that just yet. But… maybe. Although I think I might need some training beforehand. But yeah… maybe."

"What about now? What will you do for now?"

Taya shrugged again. "Not sure. I'll have to speak to Frank – see if I'm to stay or what. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens."

"Well, we'll be here for you if you ever need us. And you're always welcome to come and visit us, even if you don't stay here or re-join MI9 or whatever." Dan said brightly.

Taya smiled. "Thanks. I'd like that."

Glancing up, Dan noticed Tom and Anneisha come out of the school building.

"Besides," he joked, standing up, "that catch was pretty impressive: we may need you for the school cricket team."

"Hmm," she intoned, raising an eyebrow.

"Not to mention your expertise in using furniture as weaponry." Dan winked.

She laughed. Looking towards Tom and Aneisha, she added warmly, "Though, I think you've got a pretty good team here already."

Dan smiled as he watched his friends approach. "Yeah," he said. "We do."

* * *

 **The end!**

 **A/N: There we go! It kinda resolved itself quite quickly after all the drama. I hope you all enjoyed it: thank you so much to everyone who has been following this story and to everyone left a reviewed! They are all very much appreciated.**

 **Please let me know what you thought. Even if you come across this story three years down the line or whatever, feel free to leave a comment!**

 **And thank you for reading.**


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